In near-endless posts on our Web site, Captain Joel Fox has waxed on about the media, about his career as a SWAT team commander, and even about the nature of truth.

But when we contacted Fox Monday to question him about some shocking new information we had just confirmed — the fact the Arizona Attorney General's Office had executed a search warrant on his home earlier this year — the usually garrulous sheriff's captain went silent. And the search warrant, we learned, is still under seal.

So we asked our lawyers to get the search warrant opened.

Captain Joel Fox's house was raided by investigators this spring.

Fox, of course, is a commander of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's SWAT team and an Arpaio loyalist. Not coincidentally, Fox was, for months, the only person linked to the "SCA fund," a secret slush fund that conveyed checks totaling $105,000 to the Arizona Republican Party — just in time for the party to finance a nasty ad attacking Arpaio's opponent.

When Fox refused to give up the SCA's donor list, the state GOP was forced to return the money. But it didn't end there. Facing a huge fine from the county, Fox eventually revealed that a half-dozen of the sheriff's top command staff had donated to the fund, including Chief Deputy David Hendershott.

So, too, did at least one wealthy friend of Arpaio's, developer Steve Ellman, and two out-of-state limited-liability companies. The latter donations are in clear violation of state law. One of the firms, an Alaska-based investment fund, actually marked its check with a memo to "Vote for Sheriff Joe Arpaio." That suggests that the state Republican Party allowed the sheriff's men to earmark their donations for Arpaio. That, too, is against the law.

With such serious allegations against him — and such strong circumstantial evidence already on the table — you'd think Fox would have kept quiet. Or at least, as we journalists call it, "get lawyered up."

But Fox, oddly, just wouldn't shut up. In lengthy responses to each and every related blog post and story on our Web site, he's insisted that our coverage of the scandal has been overblown, that the money was never earmarked for Arpaio, that the SCA was never a political committee, even that the fat contribution to a political party was not, in fact, a political contribution.

Recently, responding to a post by my colleague Ray Stern, Fox insisted that he had no secrets. "Just because you don't know the answer, it doesn't make it a secret," Fox chided Stern. "Just because you never thought to ask the question, it doesn't make it a secret."

But as chatty as Fox can be, there's a big secret he's been keeping.

The SCA scandal has become the subject of a grand jury investigation by the Arizona attorney general — something Fox is all too aware of. In fact, as Fox's attorney confirmed, investigators with the Attorney General's Office executed a search warrant on Fox's home in Gilbert in March.

I sent Fox an e-mail to ask him about the search warrant. But the chatty captain didn't respond.

Typically, a search warrant is unsealed within a few weeks of its execution. But a judge has the discretion to keep one sealed much longer if an investigation is ongoing. Earlier this month, when I visited the Pinal County Courthouse, where the search warrant was filed, I was able to confirm that it exists. But I was not allowed to access documentation that showed what probable cause the investigators had shown the judge, what they were looking for, or what evidence they'd gathered.

Fox has been attempting to get back the materials seized, as his attorney confirmed to New Times. And, he's been able to get access to some of the documents — but the judge ordered that they be opened to only the parties involved and not members of the public.

And that, frankly, troubles me.

This investigation has enormous ramifications for the Arizona Republican Party and the Sheriff's Office. What did GOP Chairman Randy Pullen know, and when did he know it? What role did Hendershott play in raising money for the fund? How can it be a coincidence that Hendershott was peddling the same nasty allegations about Arpaio's opponent that ended up in the SCA-funded ad?

And what about the SWAT team, which Fox serves as a commander? It's been one year since Fox turned the money over to the state GOP. And as best as I can tell, the Sheriff's Office has studiously ignored the growing scandal. (Sheriff's spokeswoman Lisa Allen insists that the matter "has absolutely nothing to do the Sheriff's Office" — even as a half-dozen members of its top command staff used direct deposit to provide seed money for the fund.) Fox is out there investigating other people. Isn't the fact that he's under investigation relevant to his targets and their attorneys?

There's simply too much we can't know until that search warrant is unsealed.

So we at New Times are going to do our best to unseal it.

We are going to attempt to intervene in the Pinal County case. We're going to ask Pinal County Superior Court Judge Robert Carter Olson to unseal the search warrant documents.

And, as it turns out, we might have to fight Dennis Wilenchik to do it.

This ought to be good.

The last time we got crossways with Dennis Wilenchik, it ended very badly — for him.

Regular readers of this newspaper should remember that Sheriff Arpaio pushed to get New Times prosecuted for daring to publish his home address online, even though the address was readily available on the Web to anyone with a passing knowledge of Google.

As my colleague Paul Rubin reported, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas initially turned down the case. Then, a few weeks later, Thomas suddenly declared he had a conflict and shuffled the case off to the Pinal County Attorney.

The county attorney at the time was Robert Carter Olson, the same Robert Carter Olson who is now the presiding judge in Pinal County Superior Court: It was Olson whom Arpaio lobbied to prosecute this newspaper, and Olson who will have to decide whether to unseal the search warrant. Small world, eh?

In his previous entanglement with New Times, though, Olson didn't have much impact: He sat on the case for nearly two years without taking action. It was only after he was appointed to the Superior Court bench, and the new Pinal County Attorney declared a conflict of his own, that Thomas got the case back and made the disastrous appointment of his former boss, Wilenchik, as special prosecutor.

I don't use "disastrous" lightly. Wilenchik is an attack dog and, like many a dog, can be more rabid than cunning. When he demanded information from our Web site that was none of his business, my bosses defied him and published his awful demands. They were hauled off in handcuffs under the cover of night, a misstep that led to Wilenchik's termination as special prosecutor the very next day. We eventually learned, too, that he'd issued grand jury subpoenas on his own, without bothering to convene a grand jury.

Sometimes, though, it feels like a vampire movie around here: The villains never stay dead.

In July, Fox was forced to cough up a list of donors to SCA fund. We learned then that he had a lawyer: Dennis Wilenchik.

In an e-mail to New Times, Wilenchik confirmed that he's representing Fox — but only in terms of getting back the unspecified "stuff" seized by the Attorney General's Office and getting access to the search warrant affidavit.

"The court made an order on that, limiting return thus far to only the immediate parties and not to be released otherwise, so I am not at liberty to [release it]," Wilenchik wrote in an e-mail.

New Times will be filing its motion to intervene this week, says attorney Steve Suskin, asking that the court unseal the search warrant and supporting documentation.

"We believe that an issue of great public concern such as this deserves to be examined and presented to the public so that everyone can understand what has happened in these bizarre, disturbing events," Suskin says.

There's a hearing in the case set for August 31. New Times will attempt to get into court that day and at least make our request to open up the file.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how Fox and Wilenchik react. Fox insisted just two weeks ago that he has no secrets, and Wilenchik says he'd release the documents if not for the judge's orders. Surely they won't object to Judge Olson unsealing the search warrant, will they?

Everyone here who has posted comments goading Fox into his repeated posts should chip in to get Fox's defense attorney a case of Maalox.

Unless Fox is intentionally pursuing the "I was only a useful idiot" defense he should SHUT THE HELL UP and stop posting at the New Times web site. Nothing good can come of it. Nobody who reads these comment threads is going to suddenly say, "Oh, I guess he's completely innocent after all." Posting here has only downsides, no upside at all.

If I were Hendershott I would be pooping my pants in fear of what this moron Fox will say once he is finally under arrest.

You say, "No one has been able to identify an actual law that has been broken." No? How about Campaign Finance Law?

Per the law, the maximum YOU were permitted to donate for the sheriff's re-election campaign, to influence the outcome of an election, was $390. Yet YOU donated $2,050 to that SCA fund, and YOU refused to disclose the names of the donors to that campaign fund for nine months.

It wasn't until YOU were faced with a $315,000 fine (an order from Judge Shedden to release the names and contributors to the SCA Fund) that you then complied with THAT campaign financing law.

Doesn't matter what YOU claim was the original "purpose" of the SCA Fund. It was YOU, was it not, who then turned over the entire SCA Fund to the Republican Party (the "washing machine") -- after party chairman Pullen indicated to Capitol Media Services that the party needed money from the sheriff's office for Arpaio's re-election campaign. YOU followed through, and the SCA Fund's proceeds were then immediately spent(televised attack ads aimed at Arpaio's opponent) to unlawfully influence the outcome of an election.

Follow the money. And it was YOU who made it all happen.____________________

Glad to see so many others are following this so closely. Keep up the good work, New Times.

Do we actually KNOW that Joel Fox is under CRIMINAL investigation? We have not seen the search warrant probable cause statements yet.

As far as deciding that a crime has been committed Joel, I will leave that to the AG's office to come to that conclusion. I would think that they will charge every crime they believe has been committed. I would not believe that the AG's office will leave any out. Of course, their investigation may not uncover any convictable crimes by Joel or others.

What is nice here is that the AG's office is conducting this investigation with dignity and respect. If AARPaio and Thomas were investigating Joel Fox, et. al. it would have shown up in press releases galore by this point.

I wonder who has been or will be called to testify for the Grand Jury. That would give a better indication of where the investigation has gone or is going.

Do we actually KNOW that Joel Fox is under CRIMINAL investigation? We have not seen the search warrant probable cause statements yet.

As far as deciding that a crime has been committed Joel, I will leave that to the AG's office to come to that conclusion. I would think that they will charge every crime they believe has been committed. I would not believe that the AG's office will leave any out. Of course, their investigation may not uncover any convictable crimes by Joel or others.

What is nice here is that the AG's office is conducting this investigation with dignity and respect. If AARPaio and Thomas were investigating Joel Fox, et. al. it would have shown up in press releases galore by this point.

I wonder who has been or will be called to testify for the Grand Jury. That would give a better indication of where the investigation has gone or is going.

Joel, can you tell us exactly what you ENFORCE? You should not be ENFORCING anything while you're under criminal investigation.

To all the readers of the New Times: Let's complain to the AG's office about this guy enforcing any laws with the trouble hanging over his head. Surely peace officer certification comes with a price..if you are suspected of wrongdoing, that needs to be noted. Has anybody actually filed the complaint with the certification board yet? How about a couple of hundred complaints against him? Would that do it? Would it be enough for a review of his "peace officer" status? He needs to step down and do it now. The proof has already been delivered in the check copies.

Amen! Tell us, Joe...what are the connections between Ellman, Courtesy Chevrolet, BM Rankin and all the others and the County Sheriff's Office? We can figure the Chevrolet dealer...county records will show what MCSO spent with them. How about the others? They all just want you to boost the morale and conditions for the deputies and detention officers? And you...lied....to all of them? Did Courtesy Chevrolet know what their money was going for? How about all the others? You are a sick demented idiot. I can't believe you still are working; hopefully that will change soon. The public has no trust in you - with good reason. I believe you'll be criminally charged soon. You must be feeling the heat. And those folks (the car dealers, along with the others...they can ALL forget getting any business from a WHOLE BUNCH OF READERS. Looks like you got some 'splainin to do.

So using your stellar legal logic, if I plot a murder in 2007, and the murder doesn't happen til 2008, I'm off the hook for conspiracy? And WTF with your Bashas analogy? If you write a check to Bashas, you get something in return, right? Since you obviously can't shut your mouth to save your life, tell us what Steve Ellman and the boys at Courtesy Chevrolet got in return for their money? Quid pro quo - you may remember that from law school. Oh wait, you didn't go to law school. Who's the poser now?

BTW, how did that whole Lacey and Larkin arrest turn out? Oh yeah, the charges got dropped THE NEXT DAY. Just like Tarr, Parraz, Sanschafer, Thielen, Ohdner, and Pochoda's. YOu guys did a bang up job analyzing the statutes on those too. Leave the interpretation of statutes to us brooding liberal attorneys. (BTW, I'm the happiest guy you'll ever meet and I've been a Republican my whole life). It's not too late to come clean, Joel.

Sarah, you've been following and writing about this story for almost a year, and so has Ray. You've called me plenty of names, you've called Arpaio plenty of names, you've called it a scandal, you've guessed and imagined and supposed and outright made stuff up...

...and this is it?

This is all you can come up with? You and Ray anonymously responding to your own article to suggest that whatever it is that I might have done (that you haven't a clue about) should require me to recuse myself from all ongoing investigations, quit and move out of the state? That my peace officer certification should be in jeopardy?

You can't even identify a valid criminal violation! You have enough time to consult your attorney and get involved in an action in Pinal County, but you can't get your attorney to tell what law has been violated??

You have simply taken a situation you know nothing about, whipped it up into a concoction of assumptions and lies, and rather than refer to anything factual, you simply suggest that whatever I did deserves a severe punishment.

You are the epitome of irresponsible journalism. You and your ilk are the reason I started SCA in the first place, and you are surely motivating me to continue it.

By the way, the time on the post comes from the server, which obviously isn't in Arizona (or has it's clock set an hour ahead)...look at your own posts and see that the time shown is exactly 1 hour later than you actually posted it.

If I wanted to, I could write a check for my groceries today, and put in the memo line "vote for sheriff joe"...but would that make Bashas a political committee, and my check a contribution? No it wouldn't.

Do yourself (and your clients) a favor and shy away from any election law cases, hmmm?Comment by Joel Fox on Aug 27th, 2009, 20:15 pm

Joel - how interesting that you would equate a check you write to Bashas for groceries to a full scale illegal (never registered until after you were caught) smear campaign that eventually financed misleading smear ads against your boss's opponent during an election cycle.

Sure...I can see the similarities. Can't everybody?

You, Joel Fox, sound like a total idiot. Your ridiculous "spins" on your criminal activity and your attempt to influence an election don't speak well of you or your office. You have dishonored not only yourself but scores of other folks who probably had nothing like you did to gain from your effots. Have you ever asked yourself why you got yourself involved in this activity in the first place? Do you have some sort of mental issue? Save yourself the legal lynching and get the heck out of town. I hope you're not as stupid as you sound trying to explain your pathetic actions.

Hey Joel - BOTTOM FEEDER. That suits you to a tee. How can you walk into the office each day and present yourself as a professional law enforcement officer? You might as well hand your badge in before they take it away from you. If you don't end up in jail you CERTAINLY seem likely to lose your "peace officer" certification. I certainly hope so. You have done your level best to confuse the issue surrounding this illegal activity called the SCA. You've tried to apply standards to YOUR actions that are not acceptable for others. You ought to learn to play poker - and learn when to fold the cards. You are in a losing game and you're going to end up with a criminal record. You have earned this - sounds like you were willing to gamble that this would never be uncovered. Not a great move. You're likely going to be charged by the Attorney General - and sounds like a lot of your "friends" will go down the pike with you. You ought to save the taxpayers of this county a lot of time and angst by just leaving now - surely Cpt. Joel Fox can get work elsewhere - after all...look who his friends are, right? They give tons of money to people they don't even know - maybe they'll give you some until your unemployment check arrives.

Sarah: Great job on this article and the others regarding the SCA scandal. It's about time that the Attorney General DID SOMETHING regarding this blatant criminal activity. I believe that Joel Fox, Hendershott, Sands and the others are guilty and should all be held accountable in court. It's not good enough to just report it to the public - criminal charges are absolutely warranted. Since Joel Fox is currently under criminal investigation by the AG's office, and since Hendersott and the others will surely be dragged into the legal arena for their part in this scandal, it seems like just a matter of time (and a short time, it seems) until this whole crappy Sheriff's office crumbles. I think Hendershott got (pardon the pun) TOO BIG FOR HIS BRITCHES. And it's probably going to cost the big boss the next election. Too many scandals. Too much aggression on their part. No professionalism. Taxpayers are SICK of the Sheriffs rhetoric. His retorts are as stale as his breath. I say let him enjoy his golden years somewhere else. We're all tired of the aging windbag and the bottom feeders.

Joel:I noticed that you blogged today in the 9ish hour. Were you off today or blogging from your desk at work? Tsk Tsk Tsk. For all you readers out there that care about the abuses of MCSO, I believe it's time we demand that the FBI, the DOJ and the Attorney General see the wrongs done by this crooked group called the MACE unit. Nobody with Hendershott's background and vendetta should be allowed to investigate ANYBODY. He has a criminal investigation going on that will surely bring charges to HIM as we speak. I also had to laugh at Hendershott's defense of his son...a "good man" and a "computer expert who puts drug dealers and pedophiles away"... As I understand it, the younger Hendershott is an under 30 CIVILIAN employee with no standards set for him by ANY certification agency. Why should HE be putting ANYBODY away? What the hell are we living in...the 1900's Somebody, hopefully the Feds, will let Hendershott know that Marshall law is no longer recognized in Arizona. I say dismantle the entire Sheriff's Office and get the people what they deserve...a law abiding Sheriff and staff who DESERVE to represent the tax payers of Arizona.

It's clear from the details of this news report that Joel Fox IS UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION. Along with Joel, I'm assuming that DAVID HENDERSHOTT is also under crimninal investigation. Joel should know from his long law enforcement career that a raid on your house and a grand jury equal CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION. Knowing these facts, WHY is still still working in any investigative department? Until he is cleared of any suspicion of wrongdoing, given the evidence against him (i.e. the checks and the bank statements) he should be removed from the ranks of "investigator" of any kind. Same with Hendershott...why in God's name would he qualify as a MACE partner when he's under criminal investigation himself by the Attorney General? Somebody needs to shut that MACE unit down now....it's a joke and they are all jokers. For one to cast suspicion on others they must have a clean slate. NONE OF THESE DOGS ARE CLEAN.

I should have included my comment with this to Captain Fox: tired of the heat, resign and move out of state, maybe Joe will give you a bonus. Please don't sound so (I can't figure out how to spell it a word that you some how think that you are better than us) just move on and make a whole lot of people happy.

Excellant article Sarah but I do have one more question about your article. Who in the hell is paying for Fox's attorney and I sure hope that is the people of Maricopa County because that would be all wrong? When I met you at the Wilkerson's, you were a smart cookie and I am sure that you will find out the answer to my question. My idea is the Fox should be paying the whole bill and not the citizens of Maricopa County.Another matter, should Andrew Thomas be paying the bill of the lawsuit against the BOS instead of the citizens of Maricopa County because it is all wrong for us to pay both side? Thank Sarah.

Are you really Chad Snow the attorney, or are you just using his name? It seems like you are with the attorney jealousy and hateful spite you spew, but you don't seem to know much about the law or have your facts straight.

I can understand why you don't know about SCA with all the difficulty reading Ray's blog posts and all those tedious court documents that he posted online. Nobody else reads them, why should you, right? I mean after all, you're just airing your objective legal opinion...

But to not even know when your heroes Lacey and Larkin were arrested? I'm wondering if you really care. It's totally not cool to play the liberal, "I fight for your rights", brooding attorney when you're really just a lame poser.

Just because I'm a nice guy, Lacey and Larkin were arrested on the evening of Thursday, October 18th, 2007, after they published details of a Grand Jury investigation. It would be almost a year before you, or Sarah, or Ray, or anyone else would hear about SCA. The Democratic Party filed their complaint on October 14th, 2008 (which is 361 days later, in case you can't find a calendar).

As for your other, equally flawed analysis of ARS 16-919, the checks SCA accepted were not a violation. Read the statute, instead of just commenting on what Ray says, and you will see that corporations cannot give money for the purpose of influencing an election, and certain types of political committees cannot accept money from them.

Even in your wildest dreams you cannot turn SCA into a political committee way back in 2007 before I ever gave any money to anyone. And you can't possibly believe that a notation on a check proves a culpable mental state and intent, especially when you don't know who wrote that notation. You assume it was the donor, but you assume too much.

If I wanted to, I could write a check for my groceries today, and put in the memo line "vote for sheriff joe"...but would that make Bashas a political committee, and my check a contribution? No it wouldn't.

Do yourself (and your clients) a favor and shy away from any election law cases, hmmm?

Joel Fox says: "In fact, despite repeated challenges on all those other blogs, no one has been able to identify an actual law that has been violated, including an anti-Arpaio commenter that claims to be an attorney."

First of all, Joel, I AM an attorney. C'mon, certainly that's in my "file" that you guys have. Trombi said he knows exactly where my office is at. Or maybe MacIntyre can help you get on the azbar.com website and use the "find a lawyer" function.

Second, I have on two occasions identified the actual law that has been violated - Ray Stern did also. The one that says it is a class six felony for someone to accept money from a corporation in an attempt to influence an election. That would be, for example, accepting a check from an out of state LLC that's marked "Re-Elect Sheriff Joe Arpaio" and turning around and donating that money to the Republican Party.

YOU, sir, are the one that has yet to answer how your actions with regard to the SCA (Sheriff's Campaign Account???) do NOT fall within the meaning of that law. C'mon, I'd love to hear your explanation.

I agree with the other poster - it's time for you to roll on Arpaio, Henderschott, et al, while you still can.

If Sarah waited for your obfuscating ass, we'd never get the full story. If you're so on the up and up, why didn't you disclose everything and let the truth be known from the beginning? Why did it take the threat of a $315,000.00 fine for you to cough up the "full story"? Why won't you even disclose what SCA stands for? If it weren't for courageous people like Sarah, Ray, and Stephen, we'd never get the full story. And it is courageous - have you read last Sunday's Republic???

You think that Sarah has a hard on for you because you arrested her bosses? No, New Times was on to you well before that. But what you did to Lacey and Larkin probably only solidified their determination to bring to light the corruption in MCSO. Just like when you pigs arrested me and my friends for showing up at a Board of Supervisors meeting - it made our resolve stronger. (Not to mention that the "Grand Jury" that you mention never happened. The subpoenas in question were illegally concocted by your own attorney, Dennis Wilinchicken.)

KPHO.comSheriff's New Blog Takes Aim At MediaDonna RossiReporter, KPHO.comPOSTED: 5:11 pm MST August 26, 2009UPDATED: 6:39 am MST August 27, 2009PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has launched a new blog on his department's Web site. It is called "The Truth Behind the Headlines," and it takes aim at media coverage Arpaio believes is inaccurate and incomplete.

So far, the posts have been in direct response to newspaper articles about the sheriff and his office, all of which he said are skewed against him. The sheriff is also using the blog to respond to editorials printed in the paper.

"We just want an avenue to respond. I don't serve any governor or politician. I serve the people and I want to get to the people some way to let them know don't believe everything you read in the papers, or even sometimes on television," said Arpaio.

The sheriff says many times people write editorials and use information that they've read or heard as fact, which misrepresents his office.

"I just want to make sure, especially on editorials that are so far out and wrong, I want to make sure the public knows the truth," said the sheriff.

The sheriff sent a department wide email to let his employees know the blog existed. He believes his 2,700 employees read the paper and watch television and deserve to know the rest of the story from his perspective.

So what story is it going to be this week Joel, they seem to change every week.

Can't wait to hear this weeks BS story from you.

>>As far as you are in the story, I can see that it looks bad, but before you pass your judgment on me, I would suggest you wait for the rest of the story (if Sarah even has the journalistic integrity to print it).

You are right about one thing: It is disgusting to imply that I should not be held to the high standards as expected of a first year deputy...so why are you making the implication? I certainly never did.

I'm sorry if you haven't figured this out yet, but Sarah has an agenda. She wants her bosses to be happy with her...and MCSO arrested her bosses when they illegally disclosed Grand Jury information...and now they're really mad. They have always hated Sheriff Joe...but they've always hated just about everyone. It wasn't personal before, but it is personal now.

Sarah also obviously has no idea what she's talking about and is woefully unqualified to talk about the law, proper police procedure, law enforcement integrity, and a whole host of other topics.

If you think that my integrity has been compromised and you base that opinion on what you have read here, you really should rethink your position. Not only would it be based on incomplete information, but also on the completely false accusations of a malicious, biased, lying reporter.

As far as you are in the story, I can see that it looks bad, but before you pass your judgment on me, I would suggest you wait for the rest of the story (if Sarah even has the journalistic integrity to print it).

"Sarah, I am also not "out there investigating other people". I am a captain, remember? But you don't really know what that means, do you?"

This is Joel's response to the concern that Joel is out there investigating other people with a cloud of this scandal over his head. Should his target's attorneys know about this?

As a Captain Joel, you are a sworn officer, right? You should have the highest of honesty and integrity. Any failure of your personal integrity should reflect on your command decisions and on the actions of those below you. Integrity is not a LE virtue reserved for those beneath the high and mighty rank of Captain. It is disgusting to imply that you should not be held to the high standards as expected of a first year deputy.

You talk about the whole story not being printed. Well, what is the whole story?

Do you even know? My personal guess is that you don't even know the whole story. My opinion, and only my opinion, is that you were a willing puppet in this mess and you did what you were told. I don't think you know most of what was going on. I don't think that you sought donations for the Sheriff. After all you have said you didn't. The account number just sort of got passed around by word of mouth, right? Money just spilled into the account and checks just sort of arrived in the mail. I don't doubt that this is all you know as the whole story because I believe you were being played by powers above.

The truth is slowly coming out. Maybe the whole truth will never come out, but eventually we will get enough of it to know who is rotten.

Fortunately, we have professional office looking into this that will respect the rule of law in their investigations. We also have motivated journalists that are digging as well. This combination will help. Now we just need someone to be called Deep Throat and we will get to the bottom of it.

I hope that they are not just looking at discrete charges in this investigation. I know the whole story is not known, but I believe there may well be a criminal conspiracy here that goes to the highest levels of the MCSO. Probably not all the way to AARPaio, but certainly to the bulk beneath AARPaio. In fact, could one fantasize that it is a criminal enterprise?

the DIFFERENCE Joel is that if the Attorney General doesn't find anything against you, he won't hold a press conference. Which is EXACTLY what your boss does. The Agents who work for the AG's Office all are 20+ year veterans from MCSO and Police Agencies around the nation. Arpaio has disgraced the detectives and officers that work for him. I just don't understand how you stomach all of this.

BTW, ya all see that MCSO now has a "The Truth Behind the Headlines" blog on their site trying to lie their way out of media reports? Should be "The Crap we can make up that our clueless followers will swallow"

The top of the page says it all:

Sheriff Joe ArpaioProtecting and Serving the Valley of the SunSince 1871

Sarah, Great investigative reporting! Keep the pressure on. We're watching all the events unfold. It's time for some of these officials to go to prison -- a place created just for people like them. They deserve to be in one of Arizona hell-holes for decades.

Actually, I think that secrecy and discretion are a good things when investigations are beginning, particularly if no crime has been committed. However, if AARPaio is investigating one of his enemies, a simple allegation (real or not) is enough to announce the start of a criminal investigation of InsertNameHere. Start the trial in the media right off.

I am kind of curious who served the warrant on the Fox's house...I know it wasn't MCSO, if MCSO had, there would have been no evidence if MCSO has served the warrant, it would have been misplaced, shredded or erased by now.

I'll bet the slimeballs at MCSO are pissed they didn't get their hands on it first.

Now if Goddard could just hang onto the recently acquired pair and start grand jury investigations on Bozo Joe, Hendershott, Sands, Miller, McInWeasel and the many other Goons at MCSO, we might actually be onto something....

Joel,If you don't roll over on that fat bastard, Hendershott, as well as on Arpaio himself.. (because you and I know he's in on it) they're gonna let you take the fall on it.

Roll over on them... perhaps you'll find the judge might be lenient on you if you cooperate in this investigation.

Are those guys really worth it? You're gonna lose it all over this? Think of your family dude... seriously. Those three guys don't even like you anyways.. they already stated that they don't trust you. You and I both know they've said this.

I'll be my right nut that the moment this is all over, they'll find a way to fire your ass. Roll over on 'em, dude... do it.

Roll over on them, you'll feel better about it.. trust me. Perhaps your wife will respect you more too. They're not worth it.

Generically speaking, it is illegal to comment on Grand Jury matters, as Sarah and the rest of the New Times knows. It is also a violation of a court order to publicly discuss matters sealed before the court, even for chatty captains.

The purpose of the Grand Jury and sealed pleadings is to protect the innocent from wild speculation such as what is commonly published in the New Times.

Obviously, if I were aware of any such thing, the law would not allow me to comment.

I can say, however, that for the umpteenth time, I am not the commander of the SWAT team. I honestly don't understand why Sarah is so insistent on perpetuating this error. Does it make the story better? I am the commander of the Special Enforcement Division. There is another captain in charge of the SWAT team. Perhaps a journalist with integrity would fix that?

The checks I received and deposited into my SCA account are also not "clearly in violation of the law". In fact, despite repeated challenges on all those other blogs, no one has been able to identify an actual law that has been violated, including an anti-Arpaio commenter that claims to be an attorney.

Sarah, I am also not "out there investigating other people". I am a captain, remember? But you don't really know what that means, do you? You write your articles without even the most basic concern for the facts, make assumptions and wild accusations, and yet you clearly haven't the faintest grasp of what you are talking about. And what's worse is that you know you don't have any idea what you are talking about, and yet you print your libelous tripe anyway.

Respected, legitimate journalists wait until they have the full story before they print it. It looks like you'll never be described that way.

Oh what tangled webs we weave......... finally we will be able to see what has actually been happening behind closed doors and in clandestine meetings. I can NOT believe the dishonesty and down right falsehood that has been prevailing within the County attorneys office and Sheriffs office. Do these ppl think we are stupid? I Thank the New Times for staying on subject because without these fine reporters we would never have been able to find out the truth in such a forum as this even tho we all knew it was going on but did not have the resources to follow up individually. Great Reporting on the Part of the New times and please keep on the pressure. These Folks need to go to jail or prison or where ever but they need to be run out of public office............ too crooked for my taste thank you very much.

Wow, it's good to know the AG is taking action. Now it will be interesting to see if the courts see this as the rest of us do. Mr. Fox, of course, will continue to deny, deny, deny. The MCSO shurf will continue to say it had nothing to do with the MCSO and someone in Maricopa County will file suit against the county manager for managing the county without their authority or approval. As if he needs it.